Written Answers Monday 16 May 2005

Scottish Executive

Ambulance Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of ambulance calls originates from NHS 24 in each NHS board area.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested has been provided for the month of March 2005 and is set out in the following table:

  Ambulance Service Calls Originating from NHS 24 (both Emergency and Urgent)

  

Health Board area
Calls from NHS 24
Total Calls
% of Calls


Argyll and Clyde
308
4,504
6.8%


Ayrshire and Arran
374
3,966
9.4%


Dumfries and Galloway
149
1,448
10.3%


Greater Glasgow
594
10,540
5.6%


Lanarkshire
724
6,095
11.9%


Tayside
333
3,577
9.3%


Fife
262
3,536
7.4%


Forth Valley
242
2,582
9.4%


Lothian
592
8,159
7.3%


Borders
86
1,102
7.8%


Highland
180
2,853
6.3%


Grampian
393
4,583
8.6%


Western Isles
16
309
5.2%


Orkney
0
131
0.0%


Shetland
7
128
5.5%


Scotland Total
4,237
52,945
8.0%



  The passing of calls between NHS 24 and the Scottish Ambulance Service is a two-way process and the number of calls which the ambulance service passed to NHS 24 to manage during March was 364. The 4,237 calls passed to the ambulance service represents 2.8% of the calls handled by NHS 24 during this month.

  The roll-out of NHS 24 across Scotland has caused no noticeable negative impact on the use of the ambulance service and their response times. The ambulance service regularly monitors the calls received from NHS 24 to ensure that these calls are being appropriately transferred.

  It should be remembered that NHS 24 is not an emergency service – the clear advice to the public is that in emergencies callers should dial 999. That only 2.8% of the calls handled by NHS 24 are passed to the ambulance service suggests that most people make the right choice in these circumstances.

Animal Health and Welfare Bill

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will issue a draft Animal Health and Welfare Bill for consultation.

Ross Finnie: We are today publishing a draft Animal Health and Welfare Bill for consultation. The bill and associated documents are being placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 36405 and 36406) and on the Scottish Executive website http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations . There will also be a number of public meetings where members of the public can express their views and seek clarification on the proposals. These meetings will be held at:

  

15 June
Inverness
Thistle Hotel
Milburn Road, IV2 3TR


16 June
Aberdeen
Marriott Hotel
Overton Circle, Dyce, AB21 7AZ


21 June
Glasgow
Grosvenor Hotel
Grosvenor Terrace, G12 0TA


22 June
Edinburgh
Holiday Inn Edinburgh
Corstorphine Road, EH12 6UA



  The consultation period will last until 4 July 2005. We would encourage all organisations, businesses and individuals with an interest to respond.

European Union

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive at which events Scottish ministers will be present as part of the United Kingdom’s presidency of the European Union.

Mr Tom McCabe: The following table provides details of the events taking place in Scotland during the UK Presidency of the European Union, which Scottish ministers currently plan to attend. Final decisions on Scottish ministerial attendance at other events taking place during the Presidency have not yet been taken.

  

Event
Dates


European Social Services Conference: Partnership and Performance in Social Care and Health in a Changing Europe
4 - 6 July 2005


Heads of Agencies Human and Veterinary Medicines Meeting
13 - 14 July 2005


3rd World Youth Congress
30 July – 8 Aug 2005


The European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference
29 Aug -2 Sep 2005


Policing with Young People Conference
5 - 7 Sept 2005


Chief Veterinary Officers Informal Meeting
6 - 9 Sept 2005


Informal Meeting of EU Fisheries Directors
7 – 9 Sept 2005


International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Annual Science Conference
19 - 25 Sept 2005


COREPER II Informal Meeting
22 - 24 Sept 2005


European Technical Working Group on Credit Transfer in Education
22 - 23 Sept 2005


EU Nature Directors Meeting
5 - 7 Oct 2005


European Forum on Architectural Policies
13 - 15 Oct 2005 


EU Poverty Round Table Conference
17 - 19 Oct 2005


EU Employment Committee (EMCO)
18 - 19 Oct 2005


EU Social Protection Committee
18 - 19 Oct 2005


Transport Meeting on Public-Private Partnerships 
19 - 21 Oct 2005 


Civil Justice Conference
24 - 26 Oct 2005


Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) Policy Committee Meeting
9 - 10 Nov 2005


Confronting Demographic Change Conference
28 - 29 Nov 2005


UK Committee of the Regions (CoR) Annual Meeting
5 Dec 2005


European Judicial Network (Criminal)
5 - 7 Dec 2005

European Union

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which events it will be directly represented at as part of the United Kingdom’s presidency of the European Union.

Mr Tom McCabe: Several hundred events and meetings will take place throughout the UK and in Brussels and Luxembourg during the United Kingdom’s Presidency of the European Union. The Scottish Executive will be directly represented at the 30 confirmed events taking place in Scotland on which information is available on the Executive website at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/InternationalRelations/Europe/Page10 .

  Final decisions have not yet been taken on which of the other events will have direct Scottish Executive representation.

Health

Dr Jean Turner (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive when the System Watch Project, being piloted in Tayside, Dumfries and Galloway and Lothian, will be extended to cover the whole of Scotland.

Mr Andy Kerr: System Watch is currently used across the whole of mainland Scotland to monitor and predict pressure within hospitals, NHS 24 and the ambulance service. An optional feature is available to automatically email users of details of patients re-admitted to each hospital. At present Dumfries and Galloway, Tayside, Lothian and Borders NHS Boards are using this feature to pilot a project to address the care of multiple admissions. The feature could be extended to other interested NHS boards at their request.

Health

Dr Jean Turner (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive when the further pilot study being carried out at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh on the Information and Statistics Division System Watch Project will be completed and when the findings will be made available.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information is not available centrally. This project is led by the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, making use of System Watch.

Health

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-16033 by Mr Andy Kerr on 29 April 2005, whether the purpose of the proposed conference on pain management is to establish a national strategy on pain management and, if not, what steps the Executive is taking to produce a national strategy on pain management and when the strategy will be published.

Mr Andy Kerr: The conference will discuss the recent report by Professor James McEwen, Emeritus Professor in Public Health, on Chronic Pain Services in Scotland . We hope to hold the conference in early July.

  Service planning is, as far as possible, devolved to NHS boards and financed from board’s unified budgets, which have been increased in this financial year by an average of 7.6%, more than twice the rate of inflation.

  I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-12866 on 16 December 2004, on action by GPs to manage chronic pain patients. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Health

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-16033 by Mr Andy Kerr on 29 April 2005, what funding will be provided for comprehensive pain management services.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Executive prefers to maximise the unified budgets made available to NHS boards for the treatment of all chronic conditions, rather than hold back funds for specific conditions. In the current financial year unified budgets have been increased by an average of 7.6%, more than twice the rate of inflation.

Ministerial Costs

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its expenditure was on transporting ministers by air for ministerial business in each year since 1999, broken down by (a) portfolio and (b) party political affiliation.

Mr Tom McCabe: Information about expenditure incurred by ministers travelling by air is available only from April 2002. All journeys undertaken by ministers were for official business purposes relating to their ministerial duties.

  The expenditure incurred on air travel is as follows:

  
1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003 - £70,256
  1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004 - £59,757
  1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005 - £55,858.

NHS Equipment

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS boards are using out-of-date CT scanners and other equipment in hospitals.

Mr Andy Kerr: This information is not held centrally. The replacement of medical equipment, including CT scanners, is a matter for NHS boards.

  The Audit Scotland Report Better Equipped to Care? – Follow-up report on managing medical equipment recognised that there were issues around the strategic management of medical equipment.

  The Executive responded positively to the Audit Committee on 14 December 2004 to the concerns raised in the Audit Scotland Report and have undertaken a number of procedures to address the issues raised.

  Capital is distributed to NHS boards using the Arbuthnott formula adjusted for cross boundary flows and weighted for the provision of regional specialities. This means that boards can determine, based on their local knowledge or the local needs of the local area how this money should be spent. In 2005-06 £220 million has been distributed to NHS boards by formula, which is an increase of 10% over the 2004-05 formula allocations.

  Record levels of capital funding are being made available to NHSScotland with £426 million, £458 million and £532 million being provided in 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 respectively. Within the total capital provision available over this period, £125 million has been specifically identified for the purchase/replacement of medical and diagnostic equipment. £40 million has been made available in the current year with a further £40 million and £45 million distributed in 2006-07 and 2007-08 respectively.

  To create better conditions for long-term planning NHS boards have been notified of fixed formula allocations for the three year period 2005-06 to 2007-08. This has improved certainty for NHS boards and will allow for the allocation of budgets to budget holders earlier than otherwise would be the case. Capital delegated limits for NHS boards have also been increased from 1 April this year which will allow greater autonomy and will enable capital projects to be taken forward without seeking prior approval from the Health Department for all but the largest projects.

NHS Equipment

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when (a) Gartnavel General Hospital and (b) the Western Infirmary in Glasgow will receive an up-to-date CT scanner.

Mr Andy Kerr: The replacement of medical equipment, including CT scanners, is a matter for NHS boards. NHS boards are given general revenue and capital allocations and it is for the boards to decide, based on their local knowledge, of local needs, how these resources should be deployed. In 2005-06 NHS Greater Glasgow received a formula capital allocation of £55.661 million which is an increase of 9.2% over the 2004-05 allocation. The board has also been allocated an additional £9.925 million specifically for the provision of medical and diagnostic equipment. However, as I previously confirmed, following from the planned NHS Greater Glasgow Board meeting on 17 May, when the 2005-06 capital programme is due to be discussed and formally approved, a replacement scanner will be in place at the Western Infirmary within three months.

NHS Hospitals

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the status is of the Draft Agreement Fourth Revision/ref:HB4/1/10 of 1974 regarding the Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital and the in-patient service it provides.

Mr Andy Kerr: This is a matter for NHS Greater Glasgow. I understand that a final version of the Draft Agreement Fourth Revision/ref HB4/1/10 of 1974 has not been traced.

NHS Hospitals

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether NHS Greater Glasgow has the discretion to ignore the Draft Agreement Fourth Revision/ref:HB4/1/10 of 1974 insofar as it relates to the provision of in-patient beds at the homeopathic hospital on the Gartnavel site.

Mr Andy Kerr: No.

NHS Hospitals

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a proposal to close the in-patient facility at the Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital would be permissible, given the terms of the Draft Agreement Fourth Revision/ref:HB4/1/10 of 1974.

Mr Andy Kerr: Yes. Any such proposals would be subject to full public consultation and would need to be submitted to me for final approval.

Sexual Health

Mr Kenneth Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how speech and language therapy and other communication expertise will be included in the delivery of the sexual health strategy.

Mr Andy Kerr: In delivering the Respect and Responsibility strategy, the expertise of the speech and language therapist can be used to assist adults and children with disabilities to acquire and maintain the knowledge necessary for good sexual health and wellbeing.

  Health boards are responsible for leading improvements in sexual health and are adopting locally appropriate structures and arrangements to do so. Therefore, the extent to which speech and language therapists and other communication expertise are involved in the delivery of the sexual health strategy will vary between NHS boards.

Smoking

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of recent reports that the incidence of low birth weight is increasing and in view of the evidence that effective smoking cessation interventions in pregnancy reduce the prevalence of low birth weight, whether the Executive has any plans to set targets for reducing smoking in pregnancy broken down by deprivation quintile, given that in 2003 the smoking rate among pregnant women was in the least-deprived quintile 13.6% but in the most-deprived quintile 35.8%.

Rhona Brankin: As part of the Spending Review in 2004 the Scottish Executive announced new targets aimed at increasing the rate of health improvement for the most deprived communities. This includes a target to reduce smoking during pregnancy for mothers in deprivation quintile 5 by 10% from 35.8% in 2003 to 32.2% in 2008.

  A Breath of Fresh Air for Scotland (published January 2004), the first ever Tobacco Action Plan designed specifically for Scotland, confirmed that key priority groups for action and smoking cessation support should be pregnant women, children and young people and adult smokers in deprived communities.

Waste Management

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-16283 by Ross Finnie on 10 May 2005, what the regulations are which came into force on 12 January 2005.

Ross Finnie: These were the Waste Management Licensing Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2004, amending the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994. Composting is dealt with in regulation 14 of the 2004 regulations, enforcement of which is a matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.